The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c7.102

c7.102

Under Malik Husamuddin Ughulbak, the commander of the Benares and Awadh division, was employed a Khalji troop-leader, named Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammud Bakhtiyar¹ for reconnaissance work in the adjacent territories. Refused service both in Ghazni and Delhi for his ungainly figure², Bakhtiyar, however, soon proved himself to be possessed of great daring and resourcefulness. He was assigned the villages of Bhagwat and Bhiuli³ by whose income he soon collected a band of adventurers, mostly drawn from the Khalji tribesmen living on the eastern border of Afghanistan. With these he commenced raids on the Magadha region east of the Karmanasa river where, after the fall of the Gahdvalas, as has been shown above, but little organised opposition could be encountered. By frequent raids into the district of Maner Bakhtiyar earned fame and also wealth to augment his military resources. He even pushed as far as Uddandapur Vihar, the monastic university town which gave its name to the country around⁴.